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The 28-year-old Coronation Street actress added that she didn't understand the appeal of her now boyfriend way back when he first burst onto the scene on the debut series of Pop Idol in 2001.

It's all coming out: Gareth, 31, said he thought Faye, 28, was 'intimidating' when they first met

'I was so 'whatever' about him': Faye, 28, admitted she thought of the former Pop Idol star as a teenager

‘When Pop Idol was on I was 15 and my best friend in high school had a huge poster of Gareth on her bedroom wall. Whenever I stayed at her house and I slept in that bed I’d be like, "I don’t get it!" I was so "whatever" about him.’

After striking up a close bond with Faye during their time on the show, Gareth split from his wife of four years - and the mother of his six-year-old daughter Missy - Suzanne Mole in 2012.

However, it wasn't until 10 months later that the new couple made their first public appearance together.

Gareth also opened about having to have surgery on his vocal chords to ease up a strain caused by constant performing - something he described as 'hell'.

He said: 'It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.

‘I’ve had a lot of support from everyone but it was a very lonely place because no one else really knows how it feels.'

However, it seems the Unchained Melody crooner has recover from the recent operation as he's back on stage in time for the panto season.

He's currently starring as Prince Charming in Cinderella at Crewe's Lyceum Theatre.

Read Gareth and Faye's full interview in this week's OK! magazine, out now

Not meant to be: The former Pop Idol split with his wife of five years Suzanne Mole in 2012 after 10 years together

It's behind you: After undergone vital vocal-chord surgery recently, Gareth is back on stage and stars as Prince Charming in a festive production of Cinderella